Chapter 46
Chapter
Forty-Six
ALLIE
I plunged into a net of blue tendrils that bounced right above the ice.
But the light shimmered out of existence a few feet above the ground, letting me fall onto the rock. The air wheezed out of my lungs and my ribs moaned in pain. Two arrows cracked underneath my weight, but the bow held true.
It took a few moments to blink myself back to reality and for the weightlessness in my stomach to settle.
I lay on my back, bruised and rattled, but not broken. Snow fell above me from the ridge standing at least thirty feet above me.
No sign of Nadya, the wolves or the sled.
They must have continued their mad dash through the forest after I was thrown off.
I hoped.
Even in my fall, body out of control, I hadn’t let go of the dagger–Orion had taught me that much.
I was armed.
My powers worked–sort of.
I was in a much better state than the last time I’d found myself in a strange clearing.
My lungs protested each breath, but they swelled.
I flexed my fingers and toes.
Everything hurt, but everything worked.
Now to find a way to get back up there.
Just as I steadied myself on my elbows, another roar sucked the courage right out of me. I snapped into a crouch, ignoring the pain.
The gods had truly been merciful today.
I’d fallen only a breath away from a jagged rock which would have cracked my skull instantly.
Another roar, more guttural this time, shook the ground.
Despite all of my senses screaming at me to stand still so the predator wouldn’t see me, I slunk toward the rock. Whatever beast was making that sound was behind it and I needed to see what I was facing.
Slowly, I peeked from behind the rock–and the view froze me.
Far enough away that I wouldn’t be spotted if I didn’t move was a roaring fire, taller than even Vylkor. Around it in a circle were beings I’d never seen before.
Twice as tall as any human and three times wider, these hulking beings were covered in thick fur whiter than the snow around us.
Their feet, palms, and faces were ice blue and each carried a huge wooden mace across their right shoulder.
Its end was flecked with razor-sharp ice shards.
One swing and they could take out an entire pack of wolves.
Around their necks, they each wore what looked to have been necklaces made out of enormous antlers.
A dozen or so of them were gathered around the fire. Only one stood and grumbled in a strange tongue, while the rest sat on stones in a circle.
The whole situation reeked of ceremony. Not human, but sacred all the same.
The one who’d spoken sat back down. As another rose, it let out that bone-chilling roar.
Just as a surprised gasp threatened to escape my lips, a gentle hand covered my mouth.
Instead of flinching away, my body recognized the warmth instantly.
“Shhh,” Ryker whispered in my ear as the roar continued to make everything around us tremble.
“What are they?” I mouthed against his hand, hoping he’d understand.
Smart man, he did. “Trolls.”
My eyes widened.
I understood why the humans in Solkar’s Reach were so terrified of them.
Their palms and feet were stretched, ideal for navigating in the thick snow, and their faces looked crumpled, eyes barely peeking out from behind the folds of their brows–but that meant the winter chill couldn’t get in easily.
Their breaths turned to smoke in the cold, as if in warning.
They looked perfectly created for this realm.
“Nadya and the wolves?” I mouthed against his skin.
“Safe with the rest of the group.”
I sighed against his palm. Everyone was okay–but we wouldn’t be if we didn’t get out of this stony ravine.
Whatever the new troll speaker was saying, the rest of them didn’t like it. Maces were raised in the air. The air pulsed with their roars, each beating against my bruised ribs.
“I need you to hold onto my neck,” Ryker whispered, his hot breath against my ear easing the fright away. “We need to move fast, before they smell us.”
He lowered his hand and turned his back. As soon as my arms coiled around his neck, grabbing onto his chest, legs circling his waist, he became a blur once more.
But not before I felt the bones scraping underneath his skin, pushing against his muscles.
I felt rather than heard his groan of pain.
The roars faded along with the world as we raced away from the trolls and the ravine, back into the safety of the forest. I hid my face in the crook of his neck to be able to breathe. He moved too fast for the merest inhale.
By the time Ryker stopped at the edge of the trees, I couldn’t hear the roars any longer.
Then again, my ears were ringing from the strain, and I’d only been a passenger.
I disentangled myself from him and instantly missed his warmth. As soon as my feet touched the ground, Ryker bent over. Ripples erupted down his back, slithering down his legs, as if his body was rearranging itself.
I wanted to reach out so badly my palms ached, but I was afraid the smallest touch would hurt him more.
With a gasp, he righted himself, his body once again whole. Only after three steady breaths did he face me.
“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned.
“Are you okay?” His palms covered my shoulders, slowly feeling my spine, as if to make completely sure I was indeed fine.
“I asked first.”
“You fell.”
“You rearranged your bones. Or whatever that was.”
Silence fell between us and the forest behind us didn’t dare interrupt.
“I’m fine,” we both said at the same time.
Then began laughing at once. Ridiculous–but I liked it.
“It’s the starting and the stopping that are hardest,” he said. “I need space and time to do it. Not ideal in a battle.”
“But great for saving outsiders from trolls.”
“Has anybody told you that you’re particularly unlucky?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m a Vegheara, of course bad luck follows me like the plague.”
Even before Dria Vegheara’s time, our bloodline had been cursed to suffer–a perfect training ground for that stubbornness of ours.
But we’d also been blessed to triumph in the end.
At least until now, and I hoped I wouldn’t be the weakest link in that family tradition.
“Your sled was the only one that veered off course,” Ryker said, turning serious. “You’re the only one who fell off–”
“To be fair, I’d never been on a wolf-drawn sled before. An accident was bound to happen.”
“–only to find yourself in the middle of a troll gathering.”
“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m safe. I’m alive. And you came after me.”
“I did.” His face softened as he touched his forehead against mine. Luckily, the fear inside of me didn’t spring up to ruin the moment and just let me enjoy the feeling of his skin against mine. “And I always will.”
Waden used to make the same promises , that awful wretched voice hissed in my mind.
I closed my eyes and fought against it with all my might. Waden wouldn’t have even risked dirtying his clothes to save me, let alone his life, like Ryker had done multiple times.
So far .
“The trolls sounded upset,” I said to hear something, anything except for those ugly thoughts. “Or is that just how they talk?”
“Both. The most powerful are the loudest. But they seemed upset, indeed.” He leaned back, jaw clenched. “Trolls suffer gatherings among their warring tribes only when there’s a dire situation. And they never come this close to the city.”
“We’re hours away from any human.”
Ryker shook his head. “The trolls avoid us as much as we avoid them. They know we have sled paths through here and stay close to the edge of the crater, where they’ve built dwellings in the caves. Yet, they approached.”
“What does that mean?”
Ryker looked at the crater’s rim in the distance, now looming closer and casting a shadow on the realm in the sunset.
“It means something is scaring them away from the border.”